A Small History of a Novena -

This is a very Interesting Prayer that I first came into contact with at a Newspaper in Northern Virginia. I was; for all intents & purposes; "The Classified Department" for a few years; & so; came into contact with most of the line & boxed ad classified ads for 4 newspapers. Every so often a person would call & put in a two line ad that read:
"Thank you St. Jude for Prayers Answered."

I would dutifully charge them their $6.80 & thank them... but after the first 5 or 6 callers put in the same message; I began to ask them "Just what had St. Jude done to get them to do this? Was he a publicity loving saint?" {In those days I was a little younger & brasher, I suppose.}

The callers would tell me about a job found for someone who had been out of work for awhile. A bracelet that had gone missing for an older lady which miraculously just "showed up". A house for sale for over 4 years suddenly being snatched off the market. Money for a special project coming from an unexpected source...and the stories kept coming. This wasn't a one time event. The people I talked to weren't related to the other people who had put in the ad.

A New Development:

So: I kept typing in the ad & one day someone called to put in the whole Novena. THAT was a pretty penny & I told the lady after counting the words; but she was adamant. She said that the prayer being printed was just as important as the thank you because that way more people could come into contact with the Saint & perhaps then get in touch with their own version of God. I thought that that was a very profound thing to say & told her so. She didn't seem to mind the compliment so long as I put the Novena into the paper. I told her that not only would I typeset it correctly but that I would box it for free. Even without the box; the typesetting of the Novena still stays the same at that Newspaper company in Northern Virginia; just as I put it into the system over 8 years ago.

A More Personal Event:

When my mother began to talk about retirement in Long Island in 1992; she had tried to put her house on the market but the market wasn't very active at the time. The house had been "on the market" & since she was a Realtor herself; the house did get a great deal of viewings but no one wanted to bite. So; she took it off the market for the winter.

A few months later she went down to Florida to visit a friend around July of 1993. She came back all excited to tell me that she'd bought into a design of a house to be built in DeLand, FL. But then her voice caught & said...but I can't move until this one sells."

I told her that I thought that I might have a solution; but that it was a little odd & that she didn't have to believe in anything that she didn't want to believe in...but that a little faith would really help. She seemed ready to try anything; including another suggestion that she bury a Statue of St. Joseph upside down in her front yard. We both laughed at that one; but a great deal of our Catholic friends thought that it might help.

She put the house back on the market at the end of July. She dutifully said the Novena on her side. I said it in Virginia for her. We followed the pattern & put in the full Novena into the paper with her & my initials at the end. Before the 7th day of saying the prayer; she'd gotten a strange phone call from another realtor in the area saying that they had a customer who was "hot" about mom's house. The realtor brought the prospective home buyer in...the house was PERFECT for his needs & he offered to pay cash on the spot. No haggling with the price; no problems, NOTHING. Within a month; by September of 1993; the house was packed out by movers & mom actually had to rent a place to live in Florida & store her furniture until her house was completely built.

I put the two line ad into the paper & firmly believed in its power.


I've had the opportunity to use the Novena several times since then for myself & others & it has worked every time. I have been lax about putting it on the site but am rectifying that now.

St. Jude's Novena

"May the Sacred Heart of Jesus
be Adored, Glorified, Loved & Preserved
through-out the world, now & forever.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Saint Jude, Worker of miracles, pray for us.
Saint Jude, Helper of the Hopeless, pray for us."
Say the prayer 8 times a day for 9 days.
It has never been known to fail.
Publication must be promised.

USE THIS IN CASE OF NEED.

You don't have to be Catholic; you don't have to be religious; it doesn't have to lead you "back to the path of redemption". Use it. When it works for you; thank the Saint in a local Pennysaver or Thrifty Nickel. They'll understand.